Gundam Seed: The Thunder Guard
by Victor M. Sarks
Summary: Story has been discarded. A revised version is under way and will be posted soon, hopefully.
1. Chapter 1: Fate's Destiny

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam seed but I do own storyline idea so no stealing!

Chapter 1: Fate's Destiny

Kira Yamato looked around his empty apartment, he wore semiformal clothing for his trop consisting of black slacks as well as a black t-shirt with the ZAFT insignia on the front with a unbuttoned short sleeved red dress shirt as well as black dress shoes, Undecorated white walls and empty rooms stared back. He had only been living there a year but it had become home, more so than his home back on earth had ever been. Copernicus had been a slight improvement but not by much, with an Earth alliance base just a few moon craters over it made coordinators extremely paranoid.

Despite Orb's claims of accepting both coordinators and naturals as citizens, coordinators were discriminated against by most of the population aside from the military and corporations that dealt with cutting edge technology and development as they recognized and respected their abilities.

But despite these bonuses Orb was not a safe place for a coordinator child to grow up. Jealousy from other children and the special treatment that coordinators got from teachers in school so that their potential wasn't dulled incited resentment in the parents of children and once one was old enough to hold down a job it got even worse, other workers who were passed over for a coordinator sometimes became violent, and then when they inevitably lost to the coordinators superior physical abilities tried to pin the blame on the coordinator.

Kira sighed, it would do no good thinking about his past homes, and he would be leaving this, the most comfortable of them so far. He had enjoyed his time on the Heliopolis colony and had even had to turn down a scholarship offer from the university there because of other plans. Today he would be heading to the PLANTs, Aprilius 1 to be exact. Today he would get to see his best friends face again.

The fourteen almost fifteen year old coordinator was broken from his musing by the sound of his apartment door opening. He had made some friends during his stay here. Sai, the intellectual and geeky one that always had a logical answer no matter the question. Tolle, the comic relief and all around nice guy, if a bit naïve and obsessed with military technology and video games. Miriallia was the kind and sensitive one of the group that wasn't afraid to speak her mind. And then there was Kuzzey, nothing really stood out about him, he was more of a sidekick than anything else with an innate fear of the unknown but he was still a friend.

They had befriended him, though they didn't know that he was a coordinator, although his suspiciously perfect grades might have hinted at his abilities. He had flown through the high school courses which was natural for a coordinator to do considering their mental abilities. In the one year he had been there he had finished his full high school education pushing himself to his limits in an effort to be ready for his main objective, the ZAFT Academy.

His wish to enlist in the ZAFT forces had not actually blown his identity as a coordinator. There were also the occasional naturals with genius intellect or special abilities such as above average special awareness and the like that allowed them to enter, though quite a few dropped out. Those that did enter did so either because of discrimination against their abilities or simply because they felt that naturals were beneath them and their talents could better be used by people that recognized them instead of trying to ignore them or curry favor with them for their extraordinary abilities.

He looked at his friends a small smile one his face as he looked them over. They would be entering their junior year of high school despite their age as they were no slouches and had actually been bumped up to sophomores the year before instead of freshmen.

"So, you're really leaving?" Miriallia was the first to speak, her voice laden with sadness.

Kira smiled sadly at her, "You've all been good friends but, I promised my best friend that I would join him in the PLANTs, and eventually the ZAFT academy. I'll try and come visit you when I get some leave time accumulated after I graduate." He promised even though he knew what with the war going on it would most likely be some time before that happened.

"Well, I can't say I have a reason to ask you not to go. You've known this friend of yours since you were just a kid and you've only known us for a year after all." Sai of course, came up with the most logical explanation as he pushed his orange tinted glasses back up on his nose.

"Just don't forget about us mortals down here." Tolle joked. Tolle was rather fond of video games and sometimes forgot that he himself wasn't in a video game.

Kira chuckled at this while Sai smirked and Miriallia giggled, and Kuzzey as always remained silent. Glancing at his watch he cursed silently. If he were to catch the flight leaving for Aprilius 1 he would have to leave now. There was only a flight from Heliopolis every six months because of the fact that not many people on Heliopolis wanted to go to the PLANTs as Heliopolis was quite isolated already and they were quite content to stay there away from the war.

Picking up his duffel bag and laptop case that had all his worldly possessions, he made a run for the door. Seeing the confused looks on his friends' faces as he approached them he tapped his watched and watched as understanding dawned on them as they scrambled to get out of the way. Luckily he lived on the first floor and the automated taxi that he had sent for earlier was there waiting.

Opening the door to the slate gray topless vehicle he tossed his bags in the passenger seat before sliding in, closing the door and entering his destination in the onboard computer. Sighing as the car finally took off for the space port he relaxed slightly. Starting slightly he ruffled around in his duffel bag before making a noise of affirmation as he pulled out a green ZAFT recruits hat like the one Athrun had worn.

Putting the hat on he spent the remaining ten minutes of the ride in silence fidgeting and constantly checking his watch.

Finally arriving at the outside of the spaceport, which was at the very end of the colony and looked like nothing more than a entrance stuck in the wall of the colony, he grabbed his luggage before making his way inside at a run. As he left the regular colony the artificial gravity lessened and pushed off the slate gray corridor that led to the ship docks speeding himself along. Coming out into the open space he searched for the officer in gray that would be waiting as well as a giant sign with the ZAFT insignia on it waiting outside the shuttle that would take him to the PLANTs.

Spotting the officer but also noticing that he was about to leave he pushed off gaining a speed that was downright suicidal for the environment. He sped across the space port bypassing other umbilical tubes for the other ships as he waved his hat and yelled at the ZAFT officer.

"Wait! Hey! Hold on a minute!" The officer looked up and noticed the hat being waved before grinning. The few people in the space port did not look as enthused as they scowled and attempted to get out of the way of the human missile that was screaming by them.

Kira, finally noticing his extremely high velocity, for a unaided human being that is, panicked and instinctively began flapping his hands like a bird would its wings as he came ever closer to slamming into the ZAFT officer waiting for him. The officer merely moved to the side and brought out a hand and grabbing him staying in one place through the use of centrifugal force to spin him around so they were back in the position they were in before he caught Kira, but with now quite a bit less force allowing Kira to bring himself to a stop by grabbing the edge of the short umbilical to the shuttle.

"Thanks, I was in such a hurry to make the flight I forgot that I would need to slow down!" Kira grinned sheepishly at the man who let out a belly laugh at the youths' predicament.

"No worries son, it's better than some of the people I've seen come aboard this shuttle. All prim, proper and so arrogant their head fills up the entire shuttle all by itself." Both he and Kira chuckled at the thought of a shuttle full of people with extremely large heads fighting for space.

"Well, you got here just in time as we were just about ready to leave. So as soon as you hand over your identification for verification we can get going." Kira pulled a green card with the ZAFT emblem on it and handed it to the ZAFT officer who he looked over in detail while waiting for him to confirm his ID with the shuttles passenger list.

The man looked to be in his in early thirties with black hair and a skin tone that showed him to be of Mediterranean lineage, though if that were true or not was debatable as he _was_ a coordinator. A rugged but friendly face looked back at him as the officer turned back around from the small computer terminal to the side of the umbilical tube that led to the shuttle.

"Well, everything checks out, welcome aboard sonny. My names Aroxerus Benaro, but call me Aro, there's already enough stiffs in the military as it is." Kira grinned at the man's laid back attitude.

"Thanks, my name's Kira Yamato, nice to meet you." Kira introduced himself eve though it was more than likely the ZAFT officer already knew his name from the ID card most likely but figured it wouldn't hurt to be polite.

"Well Kira, let's get you situated, you've got a long flight ahead of you." Aro told him before leading him into the shuttle.

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The flight was indeed long, almost ten hours. With nothing better to do he talked with the Colonel, for that was his rank, about random things to pass the time. He found out that Aro was going to undergo advanced command training once they returned to the PLANTs to prepare him for becoming a ships captain. The ZAFT command structure confused Kira, and stated as such to Aro who explained it to him.

"Well, there's a lot that goes on in a ship. A single person, not even coordinator can keep everyone in line as well as tend to his duties so we've divided it into two distinctively different chains of command. First we've got the Mobile Suit Corp. with its commander which is usually identified by a white uniform; they are usually in overall command and have direct control of the Mobile suit team." Aro paused for a breath at this point.

"There are also two ranks of pilots; first there are the elites, or reds as they're called, they get precedence when new equipment comes in and leave time and such. Then there are the regulars, or greens, they usually get the older equipment and suits and get the leftovers of what ever the elites leave them after they've had their pick and are usually ordered around by them as well. There is one other type of pilot as well." Aro paused, looking to be deep in thought.

"These pilots are not a rank per se; these pilots are what could be called the elite of the elite. These pilots get absolute first pick of new equipment and mobile suits, within reason of course, as well as being allowed to modify their suits almost any way they want and also being allowed to design their own flight suit to give them distinction and help them stand out from other pilots." Aro took a drink of water from a bottle that he had with him to soothe his dry throat from all his talking.

"Lastly, and much more simple as well, we've got the ships crew. All crew but the officers wear standard green and white ZAFT uniforms while the command crew such as the Captain and the SiC(1) and such wear purple or grey uniforms like the one I'm wearing." Here he conspicuously picked at his grey uniform with small spots of purple trimming on it.

After this explanation the conversation eventually petered out and Aro floated off to the cockpit of the shuttle while Kira took a much needed nap for the rest of the trip. Kira was woken from his nap by the shudder of the ship slowing down as it prepared to make its final approach to the Aprilius 1 spaceport.

Looking out his window he caught sight of the magnificent construct, its superstructure glinting in the sun as it glowed golden under its rays. Kira gasped slightly in awe at the sight of the golden dyed PLANT.

"It's an awe inspiring sight isn't it?" Kira jumped slightly, or at least as much as one could in a weightless environment.

"Whenever I forget what I'm fighting for or get discouraged I look at a picture of this scene that I keep in my quarters framed on the wall, it helps to remind why and what I'm fighting for." Aro looked out at the PLANT with respect in his eyes before Kira turned to him.

"Can I have one? A picture of this I mean, I think it might help me to remember as well what I'm fighting for. The PLANTs are my home now, I may have lived other places but this is where my _home_ is." Kira said, his eyes laced with the determination of one who's finally made an important decision.

"Well sure, but why don't you consider any other place your home? I mean you _are_ an Orb national right? Wouldn't that be your home?" In reply all Aro got was a derisive snort.

"Ha! Orb was never my home, the government may try and spout all their well meaning intentions to the public but people still find ways to get around it. In Orb most of the people discriminate against coordinators for whatever reasons yet also try and take advantage of their abilities, outside of the military that is, they're about the only group of people in Orb with an honor left." Aro settled into a seat next to Kira from where he had been floating, stunned, everyone in the PLANTs always saw Orb as some sort small piece of what a perfect world would be with coordinators and naturals living side by side peacefully. One part of Kira's statement caught his attention as well.

"What do you mean that they also try and take advantage of your abilities?" He questioned curious and confused.

"In school, most natural students hate coordinator students but if they need help with something they go to them and the coordinator usually ends up doing all the work otherwise the natural student will report to a teacher that a coordinator student is acting superior and he would be reprimanded." Aro was shocked, many coordinators in the PLANTs had always been told that if they ever wanted to live on the Earth then Orb was almost as good as the PLANTs when it came to their attitude towards coordinators. To think there was such animosity and jealousy even in Orb was astounding to the middle aged officer.

"Even my own family took advantage of me, the only one who ever treated my like I was actually their offspring was my mother, my father usually wanted nothing to do with me, except for a couple incidents. One of which was when I had reprogrammed one of my war simulator games to be more realistic as the mobile suit controls weren't even close to being realistic. He doesn't think I know but one night I couldn't sleep and had gotten up thinking to maybe tire myself out enough so I could sleep by playing one of my games." Kira paused for breath, momentarily stopping his tale of treachery by his own father.

"He went and copied the entire file, he doesn't think I know but I do. There were also other small incidents, nothing as serious as that was though. After that I requested that I be able to attend Lunar Prep. School, where I met Athrun Zala, my best friend." Aro's eyes promptly bugged out at the name as he choked on air.

"A-athrun Zala!?!" Kira looked at him confused.

"Yea, that was his name, I think he's the son of one of the PLANT Supreme Council members why?" Kira was extremely confused, why was Aro so surprised that he was friends with the son of a Supreme council member, he was sure that the council member's children probably had a lot of other friends as well.

Seeing Kira's confused look Aro snorted in amusement. "Kid, Athrun Zala's the biggest poster boy for the ZAFT militia there's ever been, the hospital's are usually flooded with teenaged girls wondering whether or not they're a genetic match with Athrun to have children." Kira's eyes goggled at the mere thought of hordes of girls try to get into a hospital simply to see if they were compatible with Athrun. Aro had continued on completely missing Kira's flabbergasted look of utter astonishment.

"Poor kid got turned into a celebrity overnight, his father started making all these improvements to ZAFT, he was enlisted before he could even attend the ZAFT military academy so he ended up getting tutors hired by his father. Kids' been turned into a literal military genius and he doesn't even enter the academy until this year, he's going to be so far ahead of his classmates it's not even gonna be funny!" Aro finally noticed the look on Kira's face.

"Hey son! Kira! You okay?" Kira jerked, startled.

"Huh? Oh yea, just wondering how Athrun's coping, he was never a very outgoing person, he always preferred to keep to himself and the few friends he made, I bet this is probably a nightmare for him." Kira looked somber at the though of Athrun not even being able to go down the street without getting mobbed.

"Yea, poor kid has moved out to his parents house out in the countryside it got so bad, at least until he enters the ZAFT Academy this year." Aro sighed, glancing out the window of the shuttle.

"Well, looks like we're coming in for docking Kira. I'll be sure to send that picture you wanted to the Zala residence, maybe we'll see each other again someday and we can talk some more eh?" Aro asked slapping Kira on the shoulder as Kira smiled slightly and nodded before collecting his belongings and preparing for his reunion with his childhood friend.

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Kira looked in awe at the inside of the PLANT as he descended in one of the elevators at the core of the PLANT that moved people from one end of it to the other. The massive structure was truly a feat of engineering with almost perfect artificial gravity throughout the entire colony though it was slightly less than earth standard though not by much.

As the lift arrived at the colony's interior a small robotic head popped out of the pocket on the front of his unbuttoned short sleeve dress shirt before tilting to the side and looking around. Alerted by the movement, Kira looked down and smiled before reaching down into the pocket and pulling the small green and yellow robotic bird out and setting it on his shoulder where it chirped once before settling itself.

Kira shook his head at the antics of his robotic pet, even if they were only programmed in, before heading off to find a taxi to take him to where he needed to go. Finding one, he discovered they were much like the ones in Heliopolis being completely automated and that you could either select the destination from a list or do a search for a specific location. Doing a search and locating and selecting the Zala residence the automated car set off as Kira relaxed in his seat to enjoy the ride.

The ride through the city took about ten minutes during which he looked around him observing the life of a city of coordinators and found that it wasn't much different than any other persons. They went about their daily lives like any other person would with the only difference being that the society seemed abit more open and close-nit than any other colony he had seen with people greeting each other on the streets even though they were most likely complete strangers which caught him off guard a couple times though he managed to respond in kind without making a complete fool of himself.

As he left the city he stared in amazement at the complete detail of the artificially created environment with everything from birds to turtles making their way through the dense forest that surrounded the city before it gave way to open plains with lakes periodically dotting the rolling hills. While Kira was gazing at the landscape around him his pet was looking in a different direction before it abruptly started hopping from one foot to another in a imitation of human excitement which cause Kira to smile slightly before addressing the green robotic creation.

"Well, go on, I'm sure you're eager to see your creator again." As if able to understand Kira, Birdy took to the skies with grace befitting a real bird before soaring off in search of its creator.

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Athrun Zala stood in the kitchen next to a wooden table wearing a ZAFT recruits green with extremely sparse white trim uniform as demanded of by his tutors and stared mournfully at the bottom of his coffee mug, the beverage had grown on him over the months as he had needed to keep up with the grueling workload his tutors had set up for him. His empty mug though was not the reason for his depression, tomorrow would be the start of the first semester of the year of the ZAFT Academy and Kira, his best friend since they were but toddlers, had yet to show up.

_ Who am I kidding? It's been years since I saw him! He probably has a veritable horde of friends by now knowing him, hey may be shy but people have always been attracted to Kira no matter what he does_. Athrun gazed dully out the window of the kitchen that overlooked his backyard and the lake behind it. His mother was even coming back early from her trip to Junius 7 to come and meet his friend, though she had only agreed to come back after hearing his name, something which puzzled Athrun greatly. It was going to be so embarrassing when Kira didn't show up and his mother came tomorrow expecting to see them both off to the ZAFT academy. His father was unfortunately stuck back in the city in a week long session of the Supreme Council debating on what to do now that the Blockade was broken.

Athrun was about to begin yet another self deprecating rant when a tapping on the window caught his attention. He looked up from his musing and the mug slid from his hands and hit the tiled floor with a dull thud. A small green bird with a yellow belly stood at the window pecking at the glass before cocking its head as if perplexed at the clear material that kept it from its creator. 

He almost tripped over his own feet it his rush to get to a small panel on the wall that was a intercom system that also gave him control of the large cast iron gate that blocked access to the property along with its matching fence. Frantically working the controls, Athrun managed to finally hit the right button allowing the gate to slide open on oiled gears silently. Not even bothering to pick his cup up off the floor he dashed out one of the doorways intent on reaching the front door before his soon to be arriving friend.

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Athrun waited impatiently at the front door of the large two story house that was his home barely able to stand still as if on a sugar high. The circular gravel driveway was empty except for Athrun's own car, a black sports car with sharp edges and an abundance of decorative vents, which had been given him for his past birthday.

Finally, a small gray topless two seat automated taxi slowed at the open gate and pulled onto the driveway before stopping some ways away, less than halfway all the way around the circuit. An indistinct figure dressed in black slacks and a open short sleeved red dress shirt over a black T-shirt stepped out before grabbing a black duffel bag with the ZAFT insignia on the side as well as a black laptop case before shutting the door and allowing the automated vehicle to trundle away before blowing past an impatient Athrun who stood waiting as the figure picked up its luggage and made its way closer.

Coming to a stop a couple of feet in front of him Athrun noted all the changes his friend had gone through while they were apart. Kira predictably stood many inches taller than when they had last met and it also looked like he had a slightly noticeable muscle tone and carried himself with the grace of someone who had practiced martial arts successfully at one point in his life. Kira's face got the closest inspection and he was surprised to see it hadn't changed at all, it was still heart shaped not having lost any of its baby fat yet and it didn't look like his hair had changed much either aside from being cut regularly to maintain its length. All of this had been observed in a few seconds that Kira was acutely aware of if his bowed head with a slight blush and shuffling feet were any indication.

Finally bringing his head up Kira looked Athrun in the eye, "Hey, Athrun."

"Kira!" Athrun threw himself at his friend engulfing him in a hug causing Kira to drop his luggage and spread his legs apart more to make sure he didn't fall over before wrapping his arms around his best friend he hadn't seen in over a year.

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A/N: Well, I finally got the revision for chapter 1 done, sorry for the long wait but this stories first few chapters are so slow its extremely hard to write them as ideas for later chapters keep popping up and distract me. Hopefully the next one won't take as long to revise and I can finish them all more quickly and get on with the story. 

Now I imagine some people are going to have some questions about the timeline. I honestly have no idea when exactly half the things before the actual start of Gundam seed happen so I'm just going to modify the events to fit my story. I will try to answer any questions you may have in the next revised chapter once it is finished.

(1) SiC: Second in command also known as an XO or executive officer in the modern day navy I believe.


	2. Chapter 2: Thunder Rising

A/N: Ok, before I start this next chapter here I'm going to have a little poll…on the pairings, I got a nice review from Haru Hotaru and many others (I've got reviewers!SQUEEE:D). The pairings won't be a critical part of the story unfortunately but I would like all my lovely reviewers opinions on pairings, I'm not opposed to a Kira/Athrun pairing although I may not be able to write it as well because I've never written that kind of paring before in the short time I've been writing. And now before we start I would like to reply to all my lovely reviewers:

TheBetanWerecat: I'm glad you're enjoying my story so far, I have to say your story is quite good as well and I can't wait until its next chapter and that I'll hopefully eventually reach that level of writing.

Haru Hotaru: I'm glad you liked that little scene, I always thought Gundam seed was a little…cold, Athrun and Kira became friends after being on opposite sides and they don't so much as give each other a hug or handshake, seriously there should have been a little more character development there!

Darkmoon Fluer: wow! Two reviews in a row about people liking how I'm adding in more emotion and the like, I must be doing something right:D

Merffles: yea, ten is a few too many, I've toned it down a little by reducing it to seven. Also this fic is going to be more of an insight into ZAFT then the earth alliance side though there will be some sequences of stuff from the archangel such as the one at the end of this chapter(no skipping ahead now!)

Besjer: glad you like my fic, hope you keep reading and reviewing!

X-19A Infinite Justice: glad you like hope you keep reading!

Chapter 2: Thunder Rising

It had been two years since that day in Aprilius One, two long years of nonstop hardship learning the ins and outs of modern warfare. The Academy's training method was different than what you would expect of a military school. The recruits were split up into seven man teams that roomed together, worked together, played together, ate together and practically lived together. ZAFT unlike the Earth Alliance focused on small cohesive units that were familiar with each in a way that almost allowed to read each others mind in a combat situation.

There had been no breaks at all, every day, all day they went through mobile suit simulators, strategic battle simulators to find those with the potential to command and other classes outside of the simulators such as strategy, physical fitness as fighting in a mobile suit required great endurance and stamina. But those two years were finally over and the team that consisted of Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, Yzac Joule, Dearka Elsman, Nicol Amalfi, Rusty Mackenzie and Miguel Aiman nervously awaited their assignments. Most teams were kept whole and given a commander save for the one extra pilot who would be transferred elsewhere while other teams would be broken up completely to complete teams that had lost members while there would be one lucky team that kept all its members one of which became a commander, this was usually one of the older graduates as the ZAFT military academy was not limited to youth but anyone who wanted to join ZAFT was welcomed with open arms. Miguel was actually by far the oldest on the team but was not the unofficial leader, that would have been Kira Yamato.

Kira Yamato was an enigma to most other than his team and even then only one knew very much about him. His scores were higher than even the best coordinators. His quick thinking in stressful situations had been proven on more than one occasion and he showed a natural talent for leading that astounded most of the instructors at the academy. The rest of his team did not follow because he was the strongest or could physically force them but because whenever somebody else tried to lead, and he didn't stop them from trying either, the results were always less than what Kira would have achieved in that situation.

The time for past remembrances was past though as today was graduation day. Thousands of green uniformed soldiers were assembled in the massive auditorium of the academy. Rumors had spread like wildfire that Rau Le Creuset would be picking a new team to flourish under his tutelage and that only the best would be a part of it. The whispered conversations were brought to and abrupt end as the doors at the front of the auditorium that faced the large drill field opened revealing Rau Le Creuset in his starch white uniform flanked by two officers in gray. He marched crisply along the rows of recruits as they stood stiffly at attention. He turned to face them and halted his arms behind him in a parade rest position as he spoke.

"No doubt you've all heard rumors that I will be taking a new team to take the position of the one I lost against the Hawk of Endymion on the Grimaldi Front(A/N: I'm not sure if that's historically accurate or not with the GSverse but I have no way of checking)." He turned and began pacing again.

"This is true, my team was obliterated there leaving me the sole survivor, but!" he said stopping again and raising a hand.

"It will not be the best team here today that is lead by me, the best team here today will be boarding a newly commission class of battleship and taking on perilous duties most of us would pale at and I would like to wish them luck in their endeavors. I would like at this time to present the new members of the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty with their ranks and uniforms." It was a long standing tradition in ZAFT for each new soldier to be given his first uniform at graduation by an officer even though it took hours on end most times.

The process did take hours, Most of the class were given the red elite uniforms while some stayed as greens such as Miguel Aiman and Rusty. Kira was also still yet to receive a uniform and thought in panic he would be the third in their group not to get a elite uniform as Athrun, Nicol, Yzac and Dearka all now held the red elite uniform in their hands neatly folded. Kira's panicked thoughts were interrupted by Le Creuset again.

"I realize there is one here today who has not received this uniform that deserves it more than most." Here Kira's head perked up from it's depressed down trodden position as Rau brandished a white uniform.

"This young man not even out of his teens has shown unbreakable courage under fire even if it was just that of a simulator, astounding understanding of military tactics and a natural talent to fight and lead a mobile suit team I have not seen in since this school was founded. For these skills and many others I would like to present to this astonishing and amazing individual the white uniform of a ZAFT commander, the youngest in history, Kira Yamato!" Kira, stunned walked up to where Le Creuset stood next to a now empty cart that had held the thousands of uniforms now being held by those in the room.

Kira took the white uniform in one hand and the commanders' hand in the other grasping it firmly. "Congratulations, Commander Yamato." _I will be watching you closely, Kira Yamato, very closely._

Mayhem ensued, Kira had somehow earned the friendship of the entire academy and thus his being made the commander was greeted with applause, wolf whistles and general pandemonium in the form of Yzac actually SMILING, Dearka and Athrun tackling him to the floor and Nicol helping them back up only to be set upon by Miguel who proceeded to ruffle his hair affectionately while Rusty laughed at the look on Kira's face.

* * *

Kira stared up, and up some more at the massive warship that he would be in overall command of in the massive grey hanger on Aprilius One. The ship bore a startling resemblance to a _Nazca_ class except for the fact that it was pitch black with jagged yellow lines like lightning running down the sides. The color was not the only difference the two outer parts of the superstructure continued past the point where they would normally on a regular Nazca giving it more storage space and more powerful engines as well as it being extended forward to incorporate a new linear catapult. The entire design appeared stretched if compared to a standard Nazca because of its streamlined look and reentry capabilities which were a first for a ZAFT ship. 

The 120cm high-energy beam cannon had been replaced with a double barreled version and the dual linear cannons had been increased in size to 100mm giving it an extra punch that the original _Nazca_ lacked. The multipurpose launchers were also replaced on each side of the outer superstructure in favor of a row of ten missile launchers on each one further increasing its firepower. Rau Le Creuset came up silently behind the astounded young man.

"It is quite impressive isn't it? The _Vigilance_ was designed specifically to be able to operate without any support for extreme lengths of time and also be able to hold its own against three _Agamemnon_ class ships. I can see that ship the ship is in good hands, good luck commander Yamato." Rau Le Creuset brought his arm up in a salute and Kira emulated him before pushing off and heading towards one of the open airlocks on the side of the vessel.

* * *

The _Vigilance_ floated smoothly out of the hanger bay before igniting its engines and quickly disappearing into the distance. Kira Yamato stood on the bridge of the mighty warship waiting for the ships commander to arrive, he was curious as to who would be in command of the ship during combat while he was in a mobile suit. The lift to the bridge opened and had he not been in a weightless environment he would have fallen over. Floating towards him Aroxerus Benaro wore an insolent grin at the look on Kira's face and flashed his new captains' insignia that glistened peacefully on his collar. 

"You know you could have told me you were going to be the captain for my ship." Kira mock pouted at the easy going officer who chuckled merrily in return at the disgruntled look on his commanders' face.

"I wanted it to be a surprise. Did you get the picture I sent you?" He enquired.

"Huh? Oh yea, I brought it along, it's in my quarters and I modified it to include the _Vigilance_ in it, it's a real masterpiece now."

"You'll have to show it to me sometime, but right now we've got a battle to find."

* * *

Kira looked out the forward view port of the _Vigilance;_ it had been a year since he had graduated from the ZAFT military academy and become the youngest commander in history at just past seventeen years old. His team was essentially a psuedo special ops team attached to ZAFT more firmly than a true special ops team as then they would have been solely at the command of the supreme council. 

Kira sighed; the mission they were undertaking was bound to be very hazardous. The Earth Alliance in cooperation with the Orb corporation Morganroete were developing their own mobile suits, ones which were more powerful than ZAFTs' own along with a new class of battleship that outclassed ZAFTs' own _Nazca_ which was why they had been sent on this mission. Kira checked his watch then turned to Aroxerus.

"The operation commences at 1000(ten-hundred) hours, you know what to do." Aro nodded in response and Kira pushed off from his chair towards the lift.

Arriving in the hanger he boarded the drop ship along with the rest of his team. Closing the airlock he sealed his white airtight suit and took a seat with the rest. The drop ship silently flew away from the _Vigilance_ and headed towards a small bay on the side of the massive colony. The bay quickly loomed into view and the drop ship deployed small airbags to slow its descent to the surface of the colony and protect it from the impact as well. Kira, Athrun, Nicol, Yzac and Dearka exited the ship as Kira tapped on a wrist-mounted computer hacking into and disabling the security system on the small bay. Making several hand signs Kira quietly ordered his team to split up and head for their target destinations.

The supreme council had demanded that another team participate in the mission as well, half of which were waiting outside the colony onboard the _Vigilance_. Kira was insulted slightly by the councils orders as it made them appear as if they thought the their team wasn't good enough. Rousing himself from his thoughts he ordered Yzac, Dearka, Athrun and Nicol to follow him to where Intel. had indicated the new mobile suits to be.

They quickly entered the colony's gravity forcing them to the ground as they approached the entrance to Morganroete. He remembered the brief year he stayed at Heliopolis and all the friends he had left behind. He hoped that the upcoming conflict would leave them unharmed. Quickly shaking himself from his thoughts he brought his hand up and waved it forward in an order to advance.

The team dashed forward taking out the guards in small bursts of automatic fire before entering the complex and rushing through its corridors eliminating any opposition they ran into. Checking his wrist-mounted computer that held the hacked schematics of the facility he quickly waved towards a wide corridor going deeper into the complex. Running ahead of his team he approached the large double doors guarding the next area. He nodded to his team indicating that this was most likely their target and they all reloaded their weapons and primed grenades for use. Approaching the keypad beside the door he quickly hacked into the system, retrieved the code and entered it using his wrist-mounted computer.

The doors slid open soundlessly to reveal an awe inspiring sight. Seven slate gray machines lay in their cradles waiting to be loaded onto the unknown battleship that the other two in their team were supposed to be disabling at the time. They dashed forwards catching the Earth forces off guard and decimating them leaving very few survivors. Gunning down he noticed a group of civilians on the balcony surrounding the enclosure the mobile suits were in. Ignoring them he went for one of the small cargo carrier trucks with a door open on its side tossing a grenade in gutting it, Seeing the rest of his team quickly finishing the rest of the resistance off he headed towards the nearest mobile suit. Triggering its hatch he leaped in quickly closing it behind him as an explosion from another cargo truck washed across the enclosure.

Pulling down the keyboard he quickly started typing in the new OS snorting at the primitive one the Earth forces had installed. Quickly recalibrating all the systems he restarted the OS displaying the startup screen:

_**General**_

_**Unilateral**_

_**Neuro-link**_

_**Dispersive**_

_**Autonomic**_

_**Maneuver**_

_**System**_

"Gundam?" he asked himself clearly enunciating both syllables. Shrugging his shoulders he turned his attention to the suit itself.

Looking over the suit he found out the name to be the GAT-X109 Kumori-Sutoraiku (A/N: translates roughly to Shadow-Strike). Raising an eyebrow at the odd name he dismissed it as something one of the techs came up for it. The suit had a midnight black sub-flight lifter with small rectangular thrusters (A/N: like the X-19A's in destiny only smaller with no beam weapons on top with the linear cannons stored like the railguns were in strike freedom when the rifles were on the hips and two beam sabers) on the bottom allowing it to fly on earth as well as holding extra armaments such as two beam sabers as well as two narrow rectangular linear cannons that would pivot down to fire from the waist of the suit from either side as well as six black wedges, three to a side, that each held two small beam cannons on pivots allowing them to fire in any direction, he didn't see why they weren't just part of the suit instead of adding all the extra weight of making protrusions like that for them but he didn't complain about the extra firepower. It also had a 57mm beam rifle as well as a shield which was like two triangles with a smaller shorter on making up the top of it and a longer narrower one forming the bottom with the primary color being black like the sub-flight lifter with luminescent yellow lines in a zigzag pattern going through it in lines.

He turned his attention outwards seeing that the rest of those with him had also successfully boarded their Gundams. Pushing the controls forward on his he broke the restraints keeping form falling off the carrier and forced it upright and finally standing. He opened a channel to the rest of the team.

"What about the rest of the team that was supposed to take out the battleship?" Kira enquired of the team. Dearka answered distractedly as he finished up rewriting the OS for his suit.

"Negative, they failed to complete their mission; they managed to take out most of the command crew as they were all in the control booth but they were discovered and killed before they could plant the rest of their charges." Kira sighed, casualties were expected but he had hoped that they wouldn't have had any. _Rusty, Miguel…No! I've got to concentrate, I can mourn them later._

"What about the diversionary force?" he asked getting an answer from a stoic Athrun.

"Their mission was a success seeing as we have no security forces swarming us but just about all of them are gone, apparently they ran into some Earth forces as well." Yzac snorted in disgust.

"Earth Forces? Like a couple of puny mobile armors could take out a team of GINNs?" Yzac contemptuously half questioned half stated.

"I overheard some comm. chatter about wired gun barrels or something" Nicol stated causing Kira to freeze. _The only one capable of using wired gun barrels is…this isn't good, if the hawk of Endymion is here we have to hurry, we aren't equipped for a fight right now._

"Everyone return to the _Vigilance_" He ordered breaking them out of the argument of whether Nicol was actually stating facts or hearsay. They all nodded affirmative before taking off leaving Kira there to his thoughts as he made his way out of the Morganroete factory. He glanced up at the screens when they started to zoom in one different objects its motion sensors had detected. One showed a car moving along the highway full of panicking people, the other showed a group of civilians running for their lives; he took a second glance as his breath caught in his throat. _Tha-that's Tolle, and there's Miriallia and Sai and Kuzzey too! What are they doing in Morganroete!_

His attention was diverted once again by the chirping of a missile lock indicating that the security forces had finally arrived. Turning the suit around he faced the source of the disturbance to find a missile truck pouring missiles out of both its launchers. Forgetting for the moment about his old friends he had seen running he pressed down on one of the triggers firing the CIWS system mounted in the head in controlled bursts that shredded the missiles causing them to explode. The explosions were close to one of the small skyscrapers that dotted the area demolishing most of the lower floors on one side causing it to lean precariously as it started to collapse. Drawing his bean rifle he quickly destroyed the missile truck with a single shot through it before turning his attention back to his friends.

They had paused and were looking at something in growing horror. Following their gaze he almost screamed out loud. The building that had been hit earlier was collapsing with them directly in its path of descent. Thinking quickly he pressed down on the button labeled PS armor before pushing the suit into a run and stopping in front of the build and putting his shield in front of him stopping the building from collapsing further. He took that moment of respite to inspect his suits' color change as it was now the same deep black as the lifter and shield with the same zigzag lines of that luminescent yellow that made them look like lightning.

His friends were staring at his suit dumbfounded before Miriallia smacked Tolle upside the head who had started drooling before grabbing him and yanking him with her towards the nearest shelter and in the process bringing the rest of them down to earth. Kira smirked inside his white commanders helmet at Miriallias' antics.

Another alarm went off alerting him to the presence of two approaching mobile suits. He cursed himself for his carelessness in forgetting about the other two suits that were still back in the enclosure. Two different images appeared on his screens one showed a white with areas of blue red and black mobile suit that was remarkably similar to his suit except for the missing sub-flight lifter and larger shoulders that looked like they had slots for equipment (A/n: if you don't know what suit I just described and are a Gundam seed fan I suggest you go and kill yourself). The other suit had a faded orange torso and trim on its feet and shoulders much like where the other suits black trim was as well as white trim to separate the orange of the torso from the orange trim and the like. The suit had six triangular orange wings on its back that were wide enough to allow it to fly on earth as well as apparently being equipped with two beam carbines and a small orange and white shield on its forearm. The suit was very avian looking with a head shaped much like a bird of preys would be and it also being all sharp corners and geometric shapes that made up the suit.

He brought up his rifle preparing to obliterate the two suits in front of him when a trio of linear cannon rounds impacted on the back of his sub-flight lifter which also had phase shift armor as he looked at the screen displaying the information about the mysterious armor. _Hmmm, little resistance to beam weapons but impervious to kinetic weapons such as missiles and linear cannons and can theoretically survive reentry._ Turning the suit he looked at the source of the attack to see an orange mobile armor blitzing towards him. _That would be Mu La Flaga, the Hawk of Endymion._ Kira smiled predatorily and ignited the thrusters on the sub-flight unit lifting the suit off the ground before pushing the control bar forward catapulting the suit towards the mobile armor.

Stowing his beam rifle at the small of the mobile suits back below the sub-flight lifter he drew a beam saber from it in the same motion before boosting towards the opposing mobile armor. The orange mobile armor detached its wired gun barrels confirming Kira's suspicions about who the pilot was before they passed by each other with the Hawk of Endymion losing a gun barrel and Kira losing nothing. Turning the suit again he pressed down on the pedal for the thrusters increasing his speed. He deployed the linear cannons and opened up with a barrage of four shots from each one littering the area with craters as his opponent went through a dizzying set of evasive maneuvers. Scowling Kira stowed the beam saber and redrew his beam rifle before opening up with it and the emitters on his flight pack catching his coral colored opponent off guard and obliterating the three other gun barrels as well as destroying the belly mounted linear cannon and most of the engine assembly.

He returned his attention to the suits who hadn't moved since the brief conflict started and prepared to obliterate them when an explosion shook the colony as a section of it exploded revealing a imposing white battleship with red blue and spots on gold trim. The two double barreled high energy beam cannons on the top of it convinced him it was time to leave as they fired on him. Evading he headed towards the central shaft to make his escape preventing the enemy battleship from firing again lest they hit the colony although not before he left a little  
calling card behind.

* * *

Mu La Flaga had just popped the hatch on his totaledTS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero mobile armor when he witnessed the explosion and consequent entry of the _Archangel_. He watched as the enemy pilot nimbly danced out of the way of the Gottfried salvo before increasing his speed and heading towards the central shaft. As it approached the shaft its thrusters on the flight pack flared even brighter before a sound like thunder rolled throughout the colony causing Mu to freeze in the process of extricating himself form the wreckage of his mobile armor._ So it's _him_, I should have known they wouldn't send just _any _team on a mission like this…It looks like I'm taking on the Thunder Guard themselves this time around._

* * *

A/N: and there you have it, Heliopolis has been attacked and the Yamato team has lost two of its members as well as another whole entire team being destroyed and the hawk of Endymion is without something to fight in or is he? wiggles eyebrows 

Til next time…


	3. Chapter 3: Dogs of War

A/N: Well so far I have no votes for any pairings but there are still quite a few chapters before they really come into play unless its going to be a Kira/Lacus as that vote would have to have a major lead in a few chapters.

Angelus288: I didn't know that, if you could tell me, what _do_ newly promoted ZAFT commanders wear? I'm hoping to make this as canon as possible.

Chapter 3: Dog's of War

Murrue Ramius, surviving officer of the _Archangel_ unfastened the safety harness in the Strike Gundam before triggering the hatch and descending on the zip line arriving on the ground in front of the _Archangel_ as the orange and white suit landed beside her and she watched as the pilot clad in a pitch black flight suit descended his own zip line holding a unconscious young blond teenage girl bridal style his tinted helmet visor hiding his features from view.

The pilot, obviously a man from his stature, stepped off the zip line onto the ground gently setting down the blond girl in his arms before turning his attention to the Earth Forces officer and the approaching crewmembers from the _Archangel_ as well. Murrue drew her standard issue side arm pointing it at the mysterious pilot.

"I suggest you put the gun away unless you were planning on firing upon an Orb Special Forces operative?" The pilot's deep voice caught her off guard as well as his answer. It was true that they were on an Orb colony and developing weapons with Morganroetes' help, but for them to send one of the highly trained "Orb Sentinels" out this far indicated there was more going on here than met the eye, like the blond girl he had been carrying, it could have just been a civilian that he rescued but it was unlikely that he took the time to save one inconspicuous civilian out of the thousands that lived on the colony; no Murrues' instincts were screaming at her that this person held some sort of significance; one she intended to find out.

"My apologies, may I enquire as to why a Orb operative is in Heliopolis, I know the G-Project is important to both the Earth Forces and Orb but I didn't think it would require the attention of someone so…" She trailed off only to have her sentence finished by the black clad man in front of her.

"So important and rare? Its common knowledge that there are only ten Orb special forces agents in existence; you can refer to me by my code name Centurion. I was sent on a mission to track down well…. I guess I should tell you if I'm going to take passage on this ship back to Orb. I was ordered to track down a very….elusive target, the Chief Representatives daughter who had heard rumors about this project and had to see for herself the 'betrayal', as she puts it, her father made to Orb's policy." Murrue took a few moments to collect her wits after having such a bomb shell dropped on her until one of the agents' statements brought her back to reality.

"Wait a minute, passage? You expect to hitch a ride on a warship back to Orb?" She asked incredulously.

"I would be willing of course to help defend the ship should we run into any ZAFT forces, although I suggest allowing the Hawk of Endymion hiding behind that bush over there pilot this machine, he could get much better use out of it." Murrue looked over to where the agent had gestured to see a sheepish Commander La Flaga in a flight suit minus the helmet and holding a handgun sheepishly rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Ah, sorry about that, unknown situation and all." Mu said guiltily.

"Understandable, especially for one such as myself." Mu nodded in understanding before turning serious.

"So, basically the situation right now is that we have two of the G-weapons while ZAFT has the other five, a runaway princess and the Thunder Guard on our front doorstep." Murrues' sharp intake of breath indicated that she recognized the name while the Orb agent stood there perplexed.

"Thunder Guard?" He enquired clearly enunciating the name.

"You ever heard of the Desert Tiger?" He received a stiff nod from the still helmeted man.

"The Thunder Guard and their leader a man that goes by the moniker of the Rakurai, they are to space and perhaps more what the Desert Tiger is on the ground." The Orb agents' head was bowed in thought before it shot up in surprise.

"The Thunderbolt eh?" Noticing their surprised looks he proceeded to explain.

"It's from an old Orb dialect that hasn't been used in decades as nearly everyone speaks English now. I wonder how, other than be a former Orb citizen, that someone could learn such an archaic language. No matter we have more important matters to discuss such as this machine here-" He stopped abruptly, instincts kicking in as he swiveled in place, procuring a side arm from somewhere and training it on the group of civilians that had been try to unobtrusively walk up.

"You are?" Centurion enquired his voice colder than space.

"I'm Sai, this is Tolle, Kuzzey and Miriallia, we're interns at Morganroete."

"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in a shelter?" Mu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We were on our way to one when we got caught up in a fight between those machines, by the time they were gone the shelters were already either full or locked down." Replied Sai nervously eyeing the side arms all those present were brandishing.

"Great, just what we needed, civilians to get in the way of our operations while trying to make it out of this debacle alive." Murrue muttered.

"Hey!-"

"We're not useless!"

"You take that back, we've had experience with electronics before!" This coming from the fiery Miriallia caught Mu's attention.

"What kind of experience?" he questioned looking curious.

"Mainly we've been testing the new OS for a small troop sized exo-skeleton trying to wire out the bugs as well as dealing with software that looks like its intended for large warships. I could never figure out whether it was being designed for naval ships or space based craft, Morganroete only told us what we needed to know."

"Hmm, interesting, what say you Lieutenant? We could probably use their help."

"You can't be serious commander, allow them on a classified military secret? They've already seen to much as it is." A voice spoke up behind slightly sarcastic.

"All the more reason to let them on board, aside from the commanders astute observation, I'm Ensign Natarle Badgiruel sir." All those present turned to meet the cherry colored eyes of the black haired ensign.

"Ensign? What do you mean we have a full crew unless…" Murrue enquired, dread forming a small ball in her stomach.

"The control booth was bombed, we lost the pilots and most of the command crew, aside from me and a couple other ensigns its just regular crewmembers that have no clue on how to run a warship, they can at least run the CiC for us since we're so undermanned. As it stands you and the commander are ranking officers and he should take command."

"Me command a warship? You're out your mind! I don't have the faintest clue how to run a ship much less one I'm not familiar with."

"Then I guess you're in command, Captain Ramius." Natarle said with a slight smile bringing her hand up in a salute.

"But- wha-how-"

"Lost for words captain? Don't worry I'm here to back you up, though I don't know how much use I'll be with my Moebius unit totaled." Mu sighed looking depressed until the Orb agent spoke up again.

"I believe I can offer a solution, since I am so far up in the command chain I was privy to classified files, one of which was the details on a program to create our own version of the Moebius corps. We were trying to find a way to allow any individual to utilize the wired gun barrel system; so far they have had no progress. But there is a prototype here in Morganroete that has the system installed, but with no one able to pilot it…." He left the statement unfinished as Mu perked up and got the look of a kid in a candy store with his parents' wallet; after all who doesn't like trying out new military hardware?

"Well I guess that solves that problem, do you know where it's stored?" Mu asked.

"Wing 3, block E." The agent replied in a monotone.

The mobile armor wasn't that hard to find with such precise directions. Mu accompanied by the agent and Sai to aid in moving it back to the archangel stood in front of the imposing doors that had '**Restricted Area'** in large block letters across them. The agent, still with his helmet on approached a keypad typing in a code causing the doors to rumble ominously before slowly opening to reveal a tarp covered item basking in the rays from the narrow skylights overhead giving it a ghostly glow. The agent pressed another control on the wall inside the doors causing machinery long unused to come to life and pull the massive tarp off the object.

Mu's and Sai's breath caught in their throats at the sight of the machine. The sleek aerodynamic craft was a royal purple and was much like an improved Moebius Zero might appear to have been. Its basic shape was a sleek elongated cone without any protrusions as the crafts hull encompassed the dual linear cannons mounted below and to the sides but not on the bottom of the craft with only the very end of the barrels showing. The rear of the fighter, instead of widening like a sphere would tapered off to a well crafted engine with the gun barrels appearing as part of the actual craft, they were wedge shaped objects only identifiable as not being an actual part of the craft by the small lines that surrounded them indicating that it was detachable. The tear shaped canopy the craft had was slightly behind the linear canons and looked like something from the twentieth century, by the old calendar. The black clad agent broke the silence.

"It's an amazing machine, a shame they never got it to work the right way. All it needs is a few tweaks to the OS before it's ready to fly, that's what Sai her is for, he specializes in this sort of thing, or so he's said, I'll leave you two to get this thing up and running while I have a talk with the captain…

"Well?" Captain Ramius enquired.

"We found it easily enough, it'll take some time to get it flight worthy but once it is, it'll hold its own, we have other matters to deal with at the moment though, like those two mobile suits." The agent known as Centurion commented.

"Well they don't really have a working OS, and even if they did it's not as if we have enough pilots for them." Ramius replied defeated.

"don't be so sure, I have something here that believe it or not is a mobile suit OS that's much more advanced than anything either Orb or the Earth Forces have, and maybe ZAFT as well." Murrues' jaw dropped in shock before she regained enough wits to ask.

"Where did you get it?"

"Would you believe me if I said that my twelve year old son, a first generation coordinator, made it while trying to make one of his video games more realistic for his friends and him before I took it away as it went against our neutrality." Captain Ramius nearly choked on her own spittle as she raised an eyebrow.

"A twelve year old you say? Well it can't be worse than anything we have now. But that still doesn't answer the question about the other pilot, I know you can fly one but that still leaves us one short."

"I was referring to the princess as the other pilot. She has had training and is quite adept at it, she's just never had a chance to actually pilot anything."

"I suppose, as it isn't my job that's on the line if something happens to her." Murrue replied with a slight grin. A wry chuckle came from behind the helmet.

"Too true, though I think we should talk with her first before we decide anything."

"Of course."

**_Planning room of the Vigilance_**

"Our failure to capture all the prototype Gundams cannot continue, prepare the captured units for combat after you have finished extracting the data on them. If we take too long the council may decide to replace us with the Le Creuset team, that is not acceptable, Le Creuset is known for his brutality and would most likely have razed the entire colony just to get to them. We will each launch as soon as we are done with the data extraction, I am already done so I will be going in first, this is too keep them off guard, if we all enter at random times they don't know how many enemies they are dealing with as well as constantly having to watch all the entrances." Kira Yamato, also known as the Rakurai stood at the head of the planning table dictating his orders. Nicol looked up with trepidation at the last sentence.

"You sound as if you plan on making some entrances."

"Yes, it's unavoidable, if we wish to surprise them we must come from different directions, if we all came from the main shaft all they would have to do is wait for us to come through and could just sit there and wait."

"Hmph, it's not like we should care about some _natural_ colony." Yzac stated.

"Yzac there are coordinators in Orb you know." Athrun pointed out.

"So? What's your point, there's hardly any of them there and besides it's not like we should care about whether some traitor coordinators lived on some _natural_ colony." Athrun looked over to see the pained look on his face that quickly disappeared behind his mask of indifference.

"Enough! Operation will commence at thirteen-hundred hours that is all." All of the pilots filed out of the room except for Athrun who turned from watching the pilots leave to look at Kira. As soon as the door slid shut Kira sighed and collapsed into a chair nearby causing Athrun to frown in concern for his friend.

"What's wrong Kira? Did something happen in the colony?" Kira nodded his head to Athruns' question.

"Yea, I saw some old friends of mine, nobody you would know but they were still friends of mine, I haven't heard from them since the end of the academy. I saved them from getting crushed by a building, I'm scared that they didn't make it to the shelters and may have boarded that ship." Kira looked decimated at the thought of having to fight his friends. Athrun placed a hand on his shoulder reassuring his friend that he was there.

"Kira, it's not your fault, you couldn't have known they would still be living here much less that they wouldn't get to a shelter, I'm sure that the Earth forces captain will get them back to Orb at the first possible time, and besides we can just disable the ship, there's no need to destroy it."

"But what will the rest of the ship think? It would be seen as a weakness and I would be taken off the mission and Le Creuset, the one originally picked for the mission by the council and would have gone on it if Councilman Clyne hadn't gotten the majority of the council to overturn their decision. Le Creuset would have no qualms about destroying the entire colony to get what he wanted. If I don't make a concerted effort to destroy them it truly would be the end of them, so either way I'm going to lose.

"Don't worry about it Kira, we'll find some way to make sure that they stay safe, any friend of yours is a friend of mine, natural or not." Kira smiled in thanks nodding to his friend.

"I think I've changed Athrun." Kira told Athrun gazing at the wall in the planning room that had a copy of the painting in his quarters.

"Oh? How so?" Athrun enquired.

"At first, I joined ZAFT only to be near you, now…I think I truly understand what you are fighting for. Survival, you don't want to fight but you will to protect your home and family, and even if my family doesn't live in the PLANTs or are coordinators, to me you _are_ family." Kira said smile widening while offering his hand to his friend who grasped the forearm in a warriors handshake.

"Thanks, Kira." Athrun responded his eyes showing the joy at his friend finally understanding why he fought so hard. He had always tried to talk to Kira about the subject but could never find the words to describe it, Kira had never understood before today why Athrun had fought so hard and pleaded with hi to join him in the PLANTs. _If this is how Kira is when he's not even trying and he's already almost the best ZAFT has, then what will he be like once he fully concentrates on the task?_ Athrun wondered.

"No thanks needed Athrun, now I best be getting suited up and ready to launch, I only have ten minutes before I'm supposed to be out there, try and keep Yzac and Dearka in line while I'm gone will you?" Kira asked a humorous smirk on his face that Athrun returned.

"Sure Kira, I've got a few….things, over Dearka's head that will keep him out of mischief and Yzac just needs to blow something up to calm that temper of his." Kira nodded and relaxed before opening the door and floating towards the hanger. He sometimes forgot what it was like to be just a teenager instead of a illustrious ZAFT commander, the youngest in history at that, dealing with people like Dearka and Yzac reminded him of the fact that he was more than a uniform.


	4. Chapter 4: Rakurai Reborn

A/N: well here it is, the last chapter before college starts for me, that may either increase or decrease the time it takes for me to update. Also I'd like to thank all of you reviewers out there reading my story, it's great to know that people are actually reading this and the constructive criticism really helps.

The vote: so far we have 3(or was it 4) for the Kira/Lacus pairing as well as one vote for all the regular pairings and one that could either be a Kira/Lacus or Kira/Athrun vote so for now the Kira/Lacus pairing is in the lead.

As for the uniforms I'm going to leave them the same for now as I think he kind of deserves a white uniform and all anyway. Also I made a HUGE HUGE error in the last chapter, I have both Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala as chairman at the same time, that SHOULD have said councilman Clyne managed to convince the council to give the team to the Yamato team instead. This has been fixed for those who read and noticed it.

Moments of Insanity: I can't believe I missed that, I've watched subbed Gundam seed through like twice and I actually forgot! So thank you for pointing that out! Now I just have to go back and edit all the chapters where his name crops up…groans

Edit: bold problem should now be fixed, i have no clue why it did that as when i wrote the story it wasnt in bold like that, must of been something website side.

Chapter 4: Rakurai reborn

Kira Yamato stood in front of his locker in the changing room deep in thought, he had never thought more about being in ZAFT other than a reason to stay close to one of his only friends left. He had never been that much of a sociable person, living on earth for most of his life as a coordinator amongst naturals even in Orb had left him with few friends because of prejudices against genetic manipulation. Now those days were gone, he had known a day like this would come and had prepared accordingly.

He opened the door to his locker and looked at the white commanders' flight suit before brushing it aside to reveal another flight suit behind it. He pulled it out and held it up inspecting it. It was a pure onyx color with thick neon yellow lines in the shape of a lightning bolt on the top of the arms and sides of the legs as well as continuing up his sides and going down the bottom of his sleeves as well with a pure black helmet and darkly tinted visor on it.

He slowly donned the specially designed suit making sure all the seals were working properly protecting him from the cold chill of space before picking up the helmet and placing it on his head and triggering the visor hiding his face. He headed for the door to the hangar opening it and pushing heading towards his slate grey machine.

Triggering the hatch on the weapon of war he entered it the hatch closing after him as the hangar was vacated and depressurized preparing for his departure. He moved the massive machine to the central catapult causing the hangar to reverberate with its echoing foot steps. The massive gate closed behind him swiftly as the linear catapult deployed replacing the _Nazca_ class's older catapults. He contacted the bridge and a picture appeared on one of the smaller monitors surrounding the main screen showing his communications officer, a red headed girl.

"This is the Rakurai awaiting the go ahead for launch." He said his emotionless facade in place replacing Kira Yamato with the thunderbolt.

"Uh, roger commander, you're good to go, I'd say good luck but knowing you you won't need it." Kira smiled slightly thought it went unseen, his crew was more of one big family, delinquents and arrogant brats included from the pilots. The smile faded, now was not the time for such thoughts, he had a job to do.

"Roger, this is the Rakurai, launching in **Kumori-Sutoraiku!" **He called out before the linear catapult accelerated him into space as he made his way towards the colony which loomed ominously in the distance silhouetted against the sun.

Pressing down on the foot pedal for the thrusters he left behind the sound of echoing thunder as he accelerated towards one of the walls of the colony. Just as he prepared to make a hole in the colony wall Nicol launched from the _Vigilance_ as well.

"Nicol, you enter from the main shaft after I distract them when I enter." Kira ordered before bringing the rail guns to bear.

"Roger that." Nicol acknowledged before changing course and heading off towards the main shaft.

Kira turned his attention back to the colony wall as he targeted a spot on it before pressing down on one of the triggers on the left control bar sending a salvo of three shits from each railgun for a total of six as they blasted into the resilient colony wall before breaking through creating a small explosion and drawing the attention of the enemy ship.

As he approached the ship it came to life as the CIWS system activated and started spewing concentrated fire at him. He opened up with his rifle firing as he dodged or deflected the incoming fire with his shield. Not long after the Gottfrieds' came to life sending emerald fire chasing after him.

Dodging the first salvo of the dangerous dual 225 cm high-energy beam cannons he noticed Nicol come in through the main shaft drawing the fire of the Valiants as they deployed themselves. Kira let loose with all the beam emitters on his sub flight lifter and cursed as they were absorbed by the ceramic armor of the ship.

Athrun and Yzac arrived by way of the hole he had made in the wall just in time to witness the launch of the orange Earth forces mobile suit his machine identified as the _Sturm Jaeger_(A/N: Sturm Jaeger stands for storm hunter in German).

"Athrun, Nicol, Yzak keep after the ship, I'll engage the mobile suit.

A duo of rogers and an hmph from Yzak greeted his order as he swept down to engage the enemy suit as it approached his position. He let loose with his rifle again as well as the railguns. His shots were evaded effortlessly by the enemy suit before it replied with both its beam carbines which dissipated harmlessly off Kiras' shield. The starboard catapult on the _Archangel_ opened up yet again.

"Careful guys they're sending out another unit."

"Yeah, I see it." Athrun answered.

"They'll need more than another unit to keep us from destroying them." Yzak said by way of reply.

"Roger." Was Nicols' one word reply.

As he turned so that he kept the other suit in front of him he noticed that the empty shoulders now bore a large green piece of artillery his suit identified as a "Agni" 320mm hyper impulse cannon as well as a shoulder mounted pack consisting of a Vulcan and two gun launchers.

"Heavy artillery in a colony! What are they thinking!"

"Guess the naturals don't care that much about their colony." Was the reply from Yzak while the others stayed quiet.

A beeping from one of his screens alerted him to a report from the ship stating that one of the catapults had jammed and Dearkas' launch would be delayed. As he was reading the two suits approached him before the Strike veered off chasing after Athrun who was dancing around the ships Gottfrieds which had taken a liking to him.

Pressing down harder on the thruster pedal he created the sound of rolling thunder only amplified to a greater volume causing a pause on the battlefield as everybody was deafened by it. The strike was the first to recover and restarted the battle by firing the Agni missing the Aegis by a hair and creating a giant hole in the side of the colony.

Turning his attention back to his own predicament Kira continued to dodge the shots from the orange suit while returning fire with his own beam rifle. He triggered the flight pack mounted emitters causing the suit to bring up its small oval shaped shield before transforming into a sleek avian looking fighter with the beam carbines mounted under the wings while the shield protected most of the back and it took off increasing its speed while barraging Kira with fire forcing him to hide behind his shield and snapping off the occasional shot.

As Kira continued to fight the suit he noticed something about the pilots movements, a smoothness and flexibility he had seen on only one man. A man he knew all too well, it was possible that there were other people that moved just like him but he didn't think there were any that could transfer that fluidity of movement over to a mobile suit. He had seen him once before on a simple simulator using his OS he had spent hours developing as he had become disgusted with the unrealistic game play of his favorite games.

It could be only one man, one man he did not want it to be. He cursed, repeatedly. _Why did it have to be him, why couldn't he have just stayed safely in Orb. Why… Why did you have to join the special forces father! Now I have to fight you, something I don't want to do, it's already hard enough knowing my friends are on the Earth forces ship but now you as well? I must protect the PLANTs, but if you are in the way I'm not sure I can make myself destroy you._ Putting his radio on a general broadcast channel he tried to contact the enemy suit

"This is the Rakurai to Earth forces mobile suit _Sturm Jaeger_, what's a Orb national doing fighting with the earth forces, finally get tired of sitting around doing nothing? If you leave now I won't be forced to kill you."

Archangel Bridge

The message stunned the crew who were paralyzed. Murrue stared at the forward view screen which was focused on the onyx enemy suit with its lines of lightning. Forgotten memories stirred in the new members of the crew that manned the CIC. Tolle, Miriallia, Sai and Kuzzey froze. They knew that voice, true it had matured some and was slightly deeper but they still knew it. There were nuances in it only one boy had ever spoken with.

Out in the _Sturm Jaeger_ Centurion froze as well, how had the enemy pilot known who he was? There was no way someone could have known who he was. He doubted highly there was a leak so it meant it had to be someone who knew him personally.

"Well Ken, what is going to be your explanation for fighting in a Earth Forces mobile suit hmm? What happened to loyalty to Orb?" Ken was paralyzed again as he heard his true name this time.

"Why did you do it Ken? You had a great life. Why did you have to join the Special Forces? Why couldn't you have just stayed safely in your home back in Orb!" A voice interrupted the ZAFT pilots' questioning of the _Sturm Jaegers'_ Pilot.

"How would you know anyway! Last time I checked he didn't know anybody in ZAFT!" The arrogant voice of a girl called out and Ken winced knowing what was to come, when they had still all lived in Orb the two had often played together when their fathers had business, they had never gotten along that well though but he was sure Kira could identify that voice.

"So that's why you're here, going after the rebellious runaway princess are you? She still can't accept the facts of life and stop living in her fairy tale world? Still spoiled by everybody you see just because you're royalty hmm? I suggest you shut up you spoiled good for nothing blonde bimbo of a princess before you forget you're out here to fight not gossip!" A gasp could be heard from the Strike as the suits pilot realized who it was talking to. Kens' rage surfaced as he replied to the ZAFT pilot.

"Let me ask the same question, why did you go and join ZAFT? Why didn't you just stay on Heliopolis like you were supposed to? Tell me, _Kira_, what possessed you to go and join them!"

Back on the bridge the young teens in the CIC had frozen Staring fixedly at the battle that was going on between father and son on the main view screen. Their musings were interrupted by a howl of rage from the pilot of the Strike as she leveled her Agni at the offending suit before opening up forcing the _Kumori-Sutoraiku_ to break off its battle with the _Sturm Jaeger_ to dodge allowing it to hit the main shaft of the colony breaking it in half while various stray missiles from the archangel that were evaded also detonated around the colony. As the colony started to collapse around them the ZAFT forces all turned and retreated at the same time but not before one last barbed insult was transmitted from the Rakurai.

"Have fun explaining to your father why he lost his only colony, _Princess_." He said before the ZAFT suits were all sucked out of one of the quickly forming crevices in the wall of the colony as the Earth forces suits struggled not to lose control of their own suits and follow them out into the debris field forming from the colony.

Pilots on both sides were too stunned even if they put up the front of being perfectly fine to fight again any time soon. As they turned and headed for their respective ships they contemplated how this changed their mission and what was to come next in this unending chain of bad luck.

A/N: and there you have it, not my longest chapter but there's a bit of development so hopefully that makes up for the lack of length, just to let you all know Kisaka will still be in the story although I don't think Flay will because the only purpose she served in the original Gundam seed was to confuse Kira and deliver the N-Jammer Canceller Data to Azrael which I can find someone else for I think so Flay will most likely not be in the story, she might if I get enough protests that you DO want her in otherwise she won't be as she has no reason to be.


End file.
